The big news is here! Yesterday, in the heart of New York City, best-selling beloved kids property Skylanders took over Times Square for a dual celebration in anticipation of the upcoming American International Toy Fair. From an exclusive reveal event at NASDAQ for the franchise’s newest innovation – Skylanders SWAP Force- to a fun-filled party for eager Skylanders Giants fans at the renowned flagship Toys “R’ Us store, Skylanders was the most talked about attraction today in the city!

Just days before its big debut at Toy Fair, Activision Publishing, Inc. CEO Eric Hirshberg officially revealed details for the next big thing in the toys to life kids gaming category with the announcement of Skylanders SWAP Force. At NASDAQ, Eric showed a sneak peek of SWAP Force gameplay and unveiled the brand new, groundbreaking “swappable” characters to a roar of excitement. CEO of Toys ‘r’ Us Jerry Storch joined Eric on stage and had his own fun swapping the characters bodies and heads to make his own versions of Skylanders!

Simultaneously, around the corner, lines of families began forming at 5am along Broadway Avenue in front of the Times Square Toys “R” Us to be among the first in the world to receive a free Skylanders Giants character, Ninjini, before it hits shelves this Spring. Over 500 families braved the snow and cold to get their hands on the not-yet-released character and also enjoyed other fun activities like life sized interactive characters, game kiosks and a fun Skylanders themed photo booth.

Skylanders is “mixing it up” with the newest game in the award-winning, top-selling franchise. Skylanders SWAP Force builds upon the success of the franchise’s signature gameplay and collectible toy experience and adds a dimension to the “toys to life” innovation. The game introduces an all-new play pattern — dynamic swapability — that lets gamers reconfigure 16 SWAP Force inter-action figures into more than 250 unique characters by swapping the top and bottom halves of the toys. Now, Portal Masters can mix and match characters’ powers and moves and experience an unprecedented level choice than ever before seen in a Skylanders game. Fans also can play Skylanders SWAP Force with their entire collection of characters from Skylanders Spyro’s AdventureTM and Skylanders GiantsTM.

Skylanders SWAP Force features new abilities – such as flying, climbing, digging, bouncing, or teleporting – which can be used in previously unexplored areas of Skylands centered on these play mechanics. Additionally, the game features 16 new standard figures, eight new LightCore™ characters and 16 new versions of fan favorite Skylanders from previous games. Now kids will have more than 100 characters from which to choose. The game’s high-resolution graphics brings detailed characters and richer environments to life, immersing players in the game like never before.

In Skylanders SWAP Force, Portal Masters embark on an all new adventure in the mysterious Cloudbreak Islands, home to a mystical volcano that erupts every hundred years to replenish the magic in Skylands. During an epic battle, a brave group of Skylanders were caught in the volcano’s eruption, which blasted them apart and sent them to earth. But, the magic of the volcano gave these heroes a remarkable new power — the ability to swap halves – turning them into a special team known as the SWAP Force. Meanwhile, Kaos is back with a new evil plan. And now, Portal Masters everywhere must reassemble the SWAP Force — in their original form or in new combinations — and send them back to Cloudbreak to save Skylands!

KEY FEATURES:

Vast Possibilities for Play – SkylandersSWAP Force features 16 new inter-action figures with new powers and a fresh play pattern – dynamic swapability – that lets kids create more than 250 unique character combinations, giving them more choice than ever before over how they fight and move in the game. With each new addition to their Skylanders SWAP Forcecollection, Portal Masters unlock an exciting world of possibilities.

More Play Options – For the first time, Portal Masters can experience new dimensions of gameplay including the addition of jumping. And,seasoned fans can play Skylanders SWAP Force with their entire collection of characters from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure and Skylanders Giants. Skylanders SWAP Force delivers a diverse and dynamic, story-driven gameplay experience, filled with adventure, combat, puzzles, mini games, and drop-in/drop-out co-op – all set within compelling environments.

All New Characters – More than 50 collectible characters including:

16 new SWAP Force characters

16 newCore Skylanders characters

8 LightCore™ Skylanders characters

16new versions of fan-favorite Skylanders from the previous games, each featuring an all new “Wow Pow” upgrade power

Exciting Adventure – Portal Masters will embark on a brand new adventure, encountering never-before-seen enemies and challenges, as well as meeting memorable non-playable characters who can help the Skylanders defeat Kaos and his minions in the Cloudbreak Islands.

Unique Swap Force Zones – Skylanders SWAP Force characters feature traversal abilities – such as flying, climbing, digging, bouncing, or teleporting – each of which can be explored in new areas of Skylands that are centered on these new play mechanics.

Enhanced Graphics Quality – Swap Force’s high-resolution graphics bring to life amazingly detailed characters and richer environments to deliver a high level of visual fidelity that immerses players in the game like never before.

Daniel “Julius Marx” Pickett has been around toys his whole life. The first line he ever collected was Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes line back in the 70s. He has been surrounded by collectables ever since.
In 1999 he was confounded by a lack of information and news about some of his favorite toy lines he was collecting. Since he couldn’t find the information he decided to pursue it himself thinking other people might also be interested in the same news. He started writing a weekly column on the toy industry and action figure for a toy news site and in a years time he tripled the sites daily traffic with his updates, reviews and product features.
He built relationships with every major toy manufacturer and many sculptors, painters and mold makers. He grew his hobby into a world wide expertise that the industry has embraced.
In 2004 he teamed up with his toy buddy Jason “ToyOtter” Geyer and they created their own website www.ActionFigureInsider.com.
Daniel has been quoted in both industry and mass media press outlets. Over the years Daniel and AFi have been sought out as experts in the field. Daniel was regularly featured on “Attack of the Show” on the G4 network as the primary contributor to their “Mint On Card” segment, and our front page has been linked to from USA Today’s
“Pop Candy” Blog twice. Daniel’s content has also been featured on MSNBC.com,
Wired.com, Fark.com, Boing-Boing, Gizmodo.com, Ain’t It Cool News, the Official
Star Wars blog, Geekologie, G4, CNet and Toy Fare magazine, among many
others. He has consulted on toy lines, books, documentaries and TV shows.
But all of that really just sounds snooty and “tootin’ his own horn” – the long and short of it is that Daniel loves toys and he LOVES talking about them.